Research

“A Scene of Tumult and Uproar”: Mapping the Gruelling Lecturing Tours of Black Abolitionists

During his nineteen-month trip in Britain from 1845-1847 formerly enslaved African American Frederick Douglass travelled by bus, steamship, train and carriage, writes Hannah-Rose Murray. Although popular antislavery had waned in Britain in the 1840s, it had become part of a nationalist tradition that could be roused by powerful and fiery orators. Douglass – a lecturing genius – exploited this trend and thus became incredibly successful on the British stage.

Go West: Bernie Sanders over-wins, but Trump is in the spotlight

The tragic events in Brussels on March 22 heavily influenced the public and political debate of the primaries, helping to soften much of the harsh criticisms and personal defamation which marked the previous few weeks. A truly intensive voting calendar characterized last week’s voting results: Arizona chose Hillary Clinton with 57.6% over Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump with 41% on March 22, reaffirming the latter’s usual gap over Cruz, who got 24.9%. It has to be said that the most significant electoral results got less attention than expected: Cruz won big in Utah disappointing Donald Trump, while Bernie Sanders got a striking double victory in Idaho as well, almost reaching 80% of the votes.

Looking For Moses in NYC

In this post, PhD candidate (University of Exeter) Alice Levick shares her experiences from her research trip to New York where she went looking for Moses. Robert Moses, to be precise, the hugely influential public official responsible for so many of New York’s most enduring urban developments.

Review: Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Scottish Association for the Study of America

Snow dusted the horizon on 5 March, 2016, as the Scottish Association for the Study of America –affectionately known as SASA – gathered at the University of Stirling for its seventeenth annual conference. Promoting research into all forms of Americana, the SASA conference this year showcased the broad range of American Studies, History, and Literature, undertaken by doctoral, early career researchers, and established academics throughout Scotland and beyond.

Book Review: Rhetoric of Modern Death in American Living Dead Films by Outi Hakola

The undead monsters of Hollywood films are embodied spectres of death, and the attempts to confront and overcome these monsters are accordingly ‘struggles to restore and extend shared knowledge and control’ (36). In the classical era, Hakola demonstrates how characters such as Dracula and Doctor Van Helsing in 1931’s Dracula portray the tension between ‘ancient settings, romantic lands and mysterious monsters’ and the heroes who ‘were often related to science and knowledge’, signifying ‘Western supremacy over primitive, pagan and non-American death’ (78)

“The show will go on”: the successes of Trump and Sanders push back the end of the primary elections

“Trump-phobia” looks like the skepticism that preceded the election of Ronald Reagan, once in office one of the most popular Presidents in the history of the country. However, the violence of the weekend cast doubts on the real capacity of Trump to reunify the country behind him if he will be elected as President in November.

Book Review: Against Self-Reliance: The Arts of Dependence in the Early United States by William Huntting Howell

Stressing in his introduction that his concern is the ‘facts on the ground’ (11) in American history, Howell draws on quotidian and largely overlooked aesthetic projects such as the design of coins and schoolgirl samplers to offer some genuinely original work on how creative work in America was consanguineous with the processes of state-building.

Silence = Death: Podcasting the history of the AIDS Crisis

By Malcolm Craig and Mark McLay, creators of the American History Too! podcast

As two white, straight, middle-class Scottish, male historians, do we have the right to explore such subjects? We would say yes. It’s the job of the historian to look at the evidence, illuminate dark corners, and try to make people aware about what really happened.

We felt that in order to do the subject of the 1980s AIDS crisis justice, we had to avoid repeating many of the myths and falsehoods that abound about the virus and the period. It was important not only examine the historiography of the subject, but crucially to look at the personal testimonies from those who contracted AIDS, those who tried to track its origins, and those who turned a blind eye when they should have extended a hand of friendship.

Storify of our #bookhour on SIGNS PRECEDING THE END OF THE WORLD by Yuri Herrera

February’s #bookhour marked the first of Twitter chat of 2016. Donna Alexander hosted a discussion of Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, translated by Lisa Dillman. She was joined by Dr Francisca Sánchez Ortiz, Dr Laura Smith, and Lisa Dillman. They considered a range of issues including, the myth of emptiness, the allegory of the underworld and how this worked with Mesoamerican mythologies alluded to by Herrera.

Who’s Got the Power: Big Decisions Ahead of Super Tuesday

U.S. Studies Online and the Centro Interuniversitario di Storia e Politica Euro-Americana (CISPEA) postgraduate group (www.ceraunavoltalamerica.it) are pleased to present a recurring summary of the key developments in the lead up to the US Presidential Election 2016. This post brings together leading media analysis following Hillary Clinton’s narrow victory in Nevada, Donald Trump’s latest success in South Carolina, and Jeb Bush’s withdrawal from the White House race, and looks ahead to the battle royale that is Super Tuesday (March 1).